Opinion Pieces Address International Conference On Family Planning In Ethiopia

Ward Cates and Rose Wilcher, Huffington Post’s “Impact” blog: “At this week’s International Conference on Family Planning (ICFP), we are examining the latest evidence on integrating family planning and HIV service delivery,” Cates, President Emeritus with FHI 360, and Wilcher, a technical adviser in research utilization with FHI 360, write. “It shows that stronger linkages between family planning and HIV programs are critical to helping us realize these ambitious goals for global health,” they note, adding, “This new evidence can help us advance the science and practice of family planning and HIV integration to meet the reproductive health needs of women living with HIV and move closer to an AIDS-free generation” (11/11).

Melinda Gates, Huffington Post’s “Global Motherhood” blog: “Just a few hours after [Glamour’s Women of the Year Awards in New York City], I’ll be on my way to Ethiopia to attend the family planning conference, where 3,000 delegates are advancing that movement,” Gates, co-chair of the the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, writes. “Ultimately, I’ll be thinking about the single thread that runs through both days, despite the distance in miles,” she states, adding, “It is this: Whether it’s Glamour readers, family planning advocates, or the Ethiopian women I meet in villages, they all want the same thing, fundamentally. The dignity that comes with the power to make decisions about the future” (11/11).

David Olson, Huffington Post’s “Impact” blog: “The great need of young people for integrated family planning, sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and HIV prevention services is not limited to Ethiopia, and is one of the great challenges facing conference participants,” Olson, a global development communications expert, writes. “This is particularly true of youth from marginalized groups such as people living with HIV, sex workers, men who have sex with men, transgender people and people who inject drugs, who may be particularly vulnerable to sexually-transmitted infections, including HIV, and other reproductive health issues,” he states (11/11).